A couple of yrs ago I put this engine on my old MTD chipper/shredder and it's hard to start when hot. I'm wondering if cranking it with the heavy rotor attached if maybe it isn't getting enough RPM to get past the compression release. It takes 3 or 4 pulls to start it cold. Hot seems to take forever. I think tomorrow I'll remove the valve cover and use the dial indicator to find how much lift the compression release has and back the lash off that amount to see if it starts easier and if that affects performance too bad.